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2023-1-ES02-KA153-YOU-0001338602023Mobility of youth workersfinalized
Countries: ES|IT|HR|RO|PT|EL|PL|HU · Grant: €16,456
Youth employabilityEmployabilityEuropean identity and values

Objectives

As mentioned at the time of the application for this project, some youth workers from across Europe gathered in Tarragona as part of a project and shared our concerns and recurring issues regarding our work in supporting young people. At that time, we all agreed on the fact that a large majority of the young people we are regularly in contact with seem to lack motivation and enthusiasm about their future, while also lacking self-recognition, being unable to identify their own talents and potential. We realized that most of them were also unemployed or outside the education system, feeling somewhat lost. At the same time, we observed that the increasing rates and upward trend in suicides among this group were deeply concerning. We quickly saw that we needed to focus on three main aspects: youth unemployment, school dropout rates, and suicide rates. Unfortunately, data and statistics revealed high numbers in all areas. As a result of this knowledge and research, we concluded that young people in Spain and across Europe were, and still are, going through difficult times, where lack of motivation to continue studying, unemployment, and suicide rates are alarmingly high. All of this led us to understand that the mental health of our youth was, and continues to be, at high risk—a complex and urgent factor that we felt must be addressed as a society. Without a doubt, we believed that youth workers are an essential element in contributing to reversing this trend and making a positive impact on the mental health development of young people. For this reason, the objectives of this project have been aligned with improving the competencies of youth workers in supporting young people through this process of self-discovery by: * Providing tools, resources, and knowledge to help young people identify and recognize their talents, strengths, skills, and intelligences. * Sharing techniques to foster self-confidence and self-esteem. * Developing personal emotional intelligence to better empathize and work effectively. * Promoting and practicing creative thinking to find new solutions and professional options. * Working with tools to help young people find their purpose. * Practicing personal self-management and self-leadership. * Promoting and recognizing the diversity of talents, strengths, and intelligences. * Improving self-awareness and emotional intelligence skills, leading to more responsible and self-aligned human beings. * Offering tools to align personal interests, passions, and talents with the professional environment. * Normalizing the act of changing one’s mind, career, or path as part of the ongoing process of life change. * Developing specific skills needed in the job market such as goal setting, time management, decision-making, networking, communication, and teamwork. * Establishing a new starting point for young people who wish to discover their abilities outside of formal education. Ultimately, the main goal was to empower youth workers both personally and professionally to become agents of change in their organizations and communities, so that they could support young people in discovering their own motivations, believing in themselves, and contributing value to their communities through their professional choices. The final objective, therefore, was to contribute to reducing the number of unemployed, unmotivated youth and those dropping out of the education system, which in the long term will result in more satisfied, responsible, and self-aware individuals—and most likely, in lower suicide rates. In short, through this project, the participants received training that allowed them to get to know themselves better as individuals and professionals. Most importantly, it empowered them to support young people in finding a professional path aligned with their values, talents, and purpose. At the same time, they exchanged practices and new perspectives with other professionals and experienced this multicultural journey.

Project partners (8)